FREE Printable - Get your Toddler/Preschooler to Clean their Room

If you have young kids, I'm sure you have heard all of the excuses:
  1. "I don't know how to" 
  2. "It is clean"
  3. "I cleaned it yesterday"
  4. "But my legs are breaking" (This is Jocelyn's personal favorite)
      One day, in a desperate attempt to get Jocelyn to clean her room, I came up with an idea. I took a piece of paper, divided it into 8 sections, then started drawing pictures of items that made up most of the mess. The first section I drew a shirt and pants to represent dirty clothes, in the second section I drew a teddy bear to represent stuffed animals, and so on, and so on. In the last section I wrote "everything else." I explained to her what each picture was (mainly because I'm terrible at drawing) then I explained that she had to pick up all of the stuff in the first section (dirty clothes) only and put them were they belong. Once she was done with the first section she would get a sticker to place over that section. Then she would move onto the second section.
      After I explained this to Jocelyn, something amazing happened. She cleaned her entire room without any help from me!!! I was actually quite shocked that something so simple was all it took. Dividing the job up onto smaller sections made things a lot easier than looking at the mess as a whole.
      We have since then, upgraded from scribbles drawings on paper to a pretty printable I made.
I know not all of you will be able to use this since your child may have different toys, but I hope it will help out some of you or at least give you an idea to make your own.

Click HERE to print your own copy








       To save on paper I usually peel the stickers off (the ones I have peel off pretty easily) when she is done so we can reuse it the next day. She has never asked to see the paper after she hands it to me so this works for us. You could also place the paper in a plastic sleeve and let your child draw X's over each section with a dry erase marker.



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12 comments:

  1. SharibblesFebruary 24, 2012 at 7:07 AM

    I love this...Why didn't I think of this with your brother? :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jamie @ DIY Home Sweet HomeFebruary 24, 2012 at 8:55 AM

      I wish I would have thought of it months ago. It has been a life saver.

      Delete
  2. mrtltrtlFebruary 24, 2012 at 7:42 AM

    This is a great idea. I used to do something similar, only instead i ripped off the sections and folded them up, then put them in a hat/bowl. They pulled a piece of paper out and had to clean the section on their paper...or they could trade with each other for that round. I didn't know how long it would last, but it ended up working, they were so excited to see what they'd get next! But this...this is cool too, my son is getting into charts now so this seems right up his alley. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jamie @ DIY Home Sweet HomeFebruary 24, 2012 at 8:58 AM

      That is an awesome idea. I'm trying to think of a few other ideas so that I could alternate them. I'm afraid they will get bored with this if we do it too often. I will have to try the hat idea.

      Delete
  3. Life InterlacedFebruary 24, 2012 at 8:20 AM

    I think I could somehow incorporate this coloring sheet into my storytime! Thanks for sharing!

    Love,
    Laci

    lifeinterlaced.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. NatalieFebruary 24, 2012 at 11:56 AM

    Ohhhh...I need this!!! This is GENIUS! Thank you SOOO much for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  5. JoonieBeansFebruary 24, 2012 at 12:08 PM

    What a great idea! When I brought up the subject of cleaning her room, my granddaughter said she just couldn't do it because her mom just loves cleaning so much and she didn't want to make her feel bad! She's inventive, you've got to give her that.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Heidi E DFebruary 24, 2012 at 12:16 PM

    I remember having a book called something like "How to Clean Your Room" with funny pictures...all I really remember of its instructions were:
    1. Dump everything that is currently on the bed onto the floor - this part was very fun for me
    2. Make the bed (and make it pretty!)
    3. Put all the clothes from the floor back onto the bed...put away the clean, hamper the dirty, bag the give-away (must have been a book for older kids)
    4. Put all the toys from the floor onto the bed...now put them all away or stuff them into the give-away bag
    5. Repeat with everything else
    6. Take the bag to charity

    I remember as a kid that it became a LOT easier once someone told me HOW to clean my room...I think your solution is excellent at teaching HOW and also making it fun! Wish Mom had given ME stickers...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Crafts a la ModeFebruary 25, 2012 at 8:24 PM

    Hi, stopping in to say hello. I am your new follower. Hoping you will stop by and visit my sister and my blog and maybe follow us. Thanks, Linda

    ReplyDelete
  8. UnknownFebruary 27, 2012 at 12:05 PM

    I love love love this!!! Thank you so much! Pinning :D

    ReplyDelete
  9. carpet cleaning mesaAugust 9, 2012 at 11:01 AM

    Home sweet home!

    ReplyDelete

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